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It’s tempting to panic when you see tiny droppings around your home. No one wants rodents snacking on their pantry storage and creating nests beneath their sinks. Unfortunately, they won’t leave if you ask nicely. When traps and repellants don’t work anymore, you may need to look into the best rat poison. Learn more about them to find the best products for your house.Â
Are Rats a Health Threat?
Rats have been beloved characters in many movies. Sometimes, they’re even household pets when they come from breeders or pet stores. Wild rats are different. They can transmit numerous harmful pathogens like leptospirosis, salmonellosis and hantavirus. They’ll also likely leave droppings around your home, scattering their feces where you keep your food, prepare meals or touch shared surfaces.
When Should You Look Into the Best Rat Killers?
Before you place rodenticides around your living area, you might want to double-check that you actually have a rat problem. Look for these signs of a rat infestation to understand how bad your situation is and how much poison you might need:
- Dark pellets in corners
- Foul odors around your home
- Oil smudges on baseboards or floor
- Gnaw marks in low-lying areas
You can use rat killers even if you find only one rodent in your home. You don’t need to wait until the problem is really bad. However, looking for infestation signs will help you gauge how bad your rat problem currently is so you can get the right amount of rodenticides for your home.
Safety Precautions to Take
Although rat poisons are supposed to harm rodents, they can also hurt your loved ones and pets. Take a few precautions before using your chosen product to ensure that everyone stays safe.
Secure Your Food Away From Application Sites
The most effective rat poisons typically aren’t liquid sprays. Unfortunately, they can still mix with your food. If your rat infestation is mostly within your pantry or kitchen cabinets, try removing your shelf-stable goods before putting any poison down. The tiny blocks or pellets could mix into loose fruits or produce. Younger loved ones might also confuse it for snacks. Pantry jars are one tool that keeps food in airtight containers, ensuring the poison never affects the edible goods around it.
Read the Directions Carefully
Every rat poison product comes with directions. Read them carefully. Your selected poison might have instructions recommending that you place the product in an out-of-reach area or remove it after a specific number of days. The poison could also have a strong odor that shouldn’t be within a close distance of food. Take notes if needed to ensure that you’re using the poison as intended.
Move Your Loved Ones Elsewhere Momentarily
Some people also remove their pets and children from the area with the rat killers. The products sometimes look like bite-sized snacks. Being extra cautious could prevent your loved ones from accidentally coming into contact with the poison. If they do, you would need to seek emergency medical care to flush the poison from their systems.
What Is the Best Rat Poison?
Professional exterminators agree that the best poison for rats in your home is bromethalin. The non-anticoagulant rodenticide enters the rat’s brain and causes oxidative phosphorylation within the tissue. The process prevents the brain from using oxygen anymore, leading to a quick death.
Exterminator teams may use additional chemicals like anticoagulants known as brodifacoum and difenacoum. While they’re effective, they’re not available for purchase outside of professional use. The U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned them for residential consumers to prevent unintended injuries and environmental waste when the chemicals end up in landfills.
You can still take care of rat infestations with bromethalin. The chemical kills rats in a different way, but it’s also effective. The quick, no-mess results make products like Tomcat’s Bait Chunx one of the best rat killers available.
Most Effective Rat Poisons for Household Use
The best rat poison is whichever product effectively removes infestations without breaking your budget. Comparing your options will make that choice easier.
1. JT Eaton Bait Block
Mice and rats aren’t a challenge for JT Eaton’s Bait Block. The peanut butter flavored pieces attract rodents by smelling like human food. When they nibble on the poison, the active ingredient — diphacinone — stops their ability to clot blood cells. They bleed internally and die. There’s no mess to clean up, even if you’re getting rid of an overwhelming infestation.
The poison pieces also work in indoor and outdoor settings. Place them wherever you find evidence of rodents. You can even use the small holes drilled into each piece to connect the pellets to bait stations if preferred.
2. Neogen Ramik Green Fish-Flavored Nuggets
Neogen’s fish-flavored pellets are another resource for rat infestations. The water-resistant pieces are best suited for damp areas, but you can use them indoors or outdoors. They might take care of infestations most quickly if you’ve noticed that your rodents gather around wet areas in your crawlspace or basement.
Give this product four to five days to work. The diphacinone in each pellet needs more time to activate within the digestive system, given its non-wax makeup. The poison can withstand all kinds of weather exposure, so it takes a while to break down. However, it’s effective in killing rats of all sizes due to the tiny pellet size.
3. Farnam Just One Bite Bar
If you live on a farm and have rats in your barn or crop storage building, the Just One Bite Bar could solve your rodent problem. The heavy-duty rodenticide kills a variety of rats, including Norway and roof rats. The chemical ingredients attract them with an appealing aroma and the bromadiolone kills them four to five days later. They won’t smell poison and run in the opposite direction, which can happen with other rat killers.
It’s important to note that this product is not for household use. The chemical residue is too strong. You should only use it inside or outside of agricultural buildings.
Get Rid of Your Rodent Infestation Today
Finding the most effective rat poison shouldn’t feel challenging. You’ll get the best rat killer for your infestation once you find a product that matches the location where your rodents are lingering. There are budget-friendly solutions available that will eliminate your rat issue in days, which can be more cost-effective than hiring a professional exterminator. If you take safety precautions and follow the instructions on your selected product, you’ll have a rat-free property in no time.
About The Author
Peter is the editorial assistant for Renovated. Beyond that, he’s a small-time landlord who learned real estate and property maintenance from scratch. When Peter has down time, you won’t find him, because he’ll be out on a hike.
